Smartphones and consumer electronics for eye examinations and ophthalmology teaching – proof of concepts for five novel and inexpensive optical instruments.

The ability to examine eyes and identify pathology in Ophthalmology is dependent on the availability and capability of optical instrument technologies. For many clinicians, teachers and medical students who cannot access appropriate optical instruments, these users have been blinded to seeing inside eyes. In comparison, the optical technology in iPhones and other smartphones is widely available. Their extraordinary inbuilt cameras and photo processing software makes smartphones an ideal readymade platform to develop new optical instruments to examine eyes. This thesis developed five inexpensive optical instrument prototypes and showed proofs of concepts for an iPhone Direct Ophthalmoscope, Near Infrared Non-Mydriatic iPhone Ophthalmoscope, iPhone Exophthalmometer, Operating Microscope Recording System and a ‘Heads up’ repurposed Slit Lamp. The prototypes were substantially lower in cost when compared with existing devices on the market, offering viable alternative optical instruments in clinical practice. A working prototype of the Near Infrared Non-Mydriatic Ophthalmoscope can be developed in future research, which would eliminate the need for using mydriatic eye drops to dilate pupils before retinal examinations. This research can be used to develop affordable and widely available precision optical instruments based on smartphones for eye examinations in clinics, classrooms and throughout developing countries